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Friday, 18 October 2013

English Paper 1 Model Paper ICSE 2014

English Paper 1

Grammar and Composition

(Two
Hours)

Answer
to this paper must be written on the paper provided separately.

You
will not be allowed to write during the first 15 minutes.

This
time is to be spent in reading the question paper.

The
time given at the head of the paper is the time allowed for writing the
answers.

Attempt
all four questions.

The
intended marks for questions or parts of questions are given in brackets [ ].

You
are advised to spend not more than 35 minutes in answering Question 1
and

20
minutes in answering Question 2.

Question 1

(Do not spend not more than 35 minutes on this
Question.)

Write a
composition (350-400 words) on any one
of the following: [25]

(a)Recently there was a social
occurrence in your locality which enormously affected the life style of the
people. Describe the event and its aftermath.

(b) Festivals are becoming a
bane for the environment. Discuss.

(c)Give
a critical appreciation of a book you have recently read.

(d)Write a short story
on the theme ‘Sweet are the uses of adversity’.

(e)Study the picture given below. Write a story
or description or an account of what the picture suggests to you. Your
composition may be directly about the subject of the picture or may take
suggestions from it, but there must be some clear connection between the
picture and the composition.

Question 2

Select any one
of the following: [10] (a)Write a letter to your friend giving an
account of your experiences when you were asked to stay and take charge of your
neighbour’s house when they were on holiday.

OR

(b)Write
a letter to the District Collector of your district requesting him/her to be
the Chief Guest of your School Annual Day.

Question 3

Read the passage given below: and
answer the questions a, b, c, and d that
follow: [25]

A list of queries on email asks recipients to name the
world’s richest man in 2008; the winner of the world’s golf title in 2007; the
designer of the first rockets; the manufacturer of the first bicycle and so on?
building up a roll call of achievers who left their mark on mankind. It ended
with, “Who was the teacher who helped you to enjoy school and whom you remember
most vividly?”

I don’t know a single recipient of the email who answered a
single one of the questions except the last. In other words, everyone’s most
unforgettable person was a supportive and encouraging teacher
whose wealth, fame and social standing mattered not at all. What the grateful
student received was beyond evaluation because what the teacher gave most
freely was the precious gift of the self. It was not just knowledge to pass an
examination that they gave their students but an understanding of the value of
knowledge itself and a love of it. Great teachers seek to form, not merely
inform their students.

Today, when teaching (especially teaching young children who
have not learned to write) is no longer a coveted profession, I wish we could
all pay a silent tribute to the many obscure men and women who shaped our lives
and asked for so little in return. Surely, a good teacher deserves to be called
a deva because the real meaning of
the word is “the shining one”.

Every year, choosing a day when it is not functioning, my
cousin visits his old school. The building and compound are much the same as
they were when he was a student, so the sense of stepping back into the past is
powerful. He moves from classroom to classroom following the exact progression
his student-graph had taken him more than half a century ago, and pays a silent
tribute to each of the teachers, intensely recalling those impoverished
gentlemen whose wardrobes had hardly held more than two shirts. What still
moves him is the memory of the care they had taken in the lives and progress of
every student, encouraging each of them and guiding every child to do his best
and then some. A drop in concentration or performance led to the “master”
calling on the child’s parents to enquire if there was something wrong at home
which the child found disturbing or was unable to cope with; very few
homes had phones in those days and even if they did, a school-teacher would
certainly not have been able to afford a phone call. So, umbrella held high, he
would walk those extra miles.

My first teacher was a smiling and very gentle woman named
Mrs.Delamose, whose name my brother and I repeated over and over again to get
it right so that we might greet her correctly: “delamosedelamosedelamose”. I
still recall her dark eyes, and charming crooked smile with faint streaks of
lipstick out of place, as she led us through Songs the Letters Sing. She was a
true teacher who believed that every single child is unique and that there is
no such thing as an unintelligent child
I owe my profession to her.

a)Give the meaning of the
following words as used in the passage: [3]

1.Supportive

2.Coveted

3.to
cope with

b)Answer the questions given below
in your own words. [10]

1.Who is the most unforgettable
person in everyone’s life? Why?

2.What do great teachers seek?

3.When does the writer’s cousin
visit his old school? What does he feel then?

4.Describe the writer’s first
teacher.

5.What does a true teacher believe
in?

c)Summarise in 60 words the
qualities that make a teacher unforgettable. [10]

d)Give a suitable title to the
summary and justify the choice of the title. [2]

Question 4

a.In the following passage, fill
in each of the numbered blanks with the correct form of the words given in
brackets. Do not copy the passage, but write in correct serial order the word
or phrase appropriate to the blank space. [8]

Example:
……0…….. refers

Opera
……0……(refer) to a dramatic art form, originating in Europe, in which the
emotional content ……1……..(convey) to the audience as much through music, both
vocal and instrumental, as it is through the lyrics. By contrast, in musical
theater an actor's…2…(drama) performance is primary, and the music plays a
……3……( less) role. The drama in opera ……4……..(present) using the primary
elements of theater such as scenery, costumes, and acting. However, the words
of the opera, or libretto, ……5……..(sing) rather than ……6……..(speak). The
singers ……7……..( accompany) by a musical ensemble……8……..(range) from a small
instrumental ensemble to a full symphonic orchestra.

b.Join the following sentences to
make one full sentence without using and,
but or s. [4]

1.Janet
sold all her jewellery. She cleared her house loan arrears.

2.The
match was put off. There was downpour.

3.Private
tuitions are not affordable. They are a necessary evil.

4.The
ways of God are strange. Our destiny is unpredictable.

c.Fill in the blanks with
appropriate words. [4]

1.Mothers
are ignorant ………..their children’s faults.

2.Suhasini
backed………..of the competition just before the final round.

3.Nowadays
I am busy………..my children.

4.The
match was put………..because of snowfall.

d.Rewrite the following sentences
correctly according to the instructions given after each. Make any necessary changes;
don’t change the meaning of the sentence. [8]

5.Reema is a wise girl. The other
girls are not so wise. [Begin: Very few….]

6.You must work conscientiously.
You will lose your ranking otherwise.
[Use: Unless…]

7.The driver was injured. He
helped the victims. [Use: Despite]

8.Of
what use is this tool to you? (End with: ……….. you.)

Answers given belwo

Question
4

a.In the following
passage, fill in each of the numbered blanks with the correct form of the words
given in brackets. Do not copy the passage, but write in correct serial order
the word or phrase appropriate to the blank space.

1.is conveyed

2.dramatic

3.lesser

4.is presented

5.are sung

6.spoken

7.accompanied

8.ranging

b.Join the following
sentences to make one full sentence without using and, but or so.

1.Janet sold all her jewellery. She cleared her house loan
arrears.

a.Jane sold all her jewellery so as to clear her house loans.

b.Jane cleared her house loan arrears by selling all her
jewellery.

c.Selling all her jewellery, Jane cleared her house loan
arrears.

2.The match was put off. There was downpour.

The
match was put off because of a downpour.

3.Private tuitions are not affordable. They are a necessary
evil.

Although
private tuitions are not affordable, they are a necessary evil.

4.The ways of God are strange. Our destiny is unpredictable.

As/Since
the ways of God are strange, our destiny is unpredictable.

c.Fill in the blanks with appropriate words.

1.Mothers are ignorant of
their children’s faults.

2.Suhasini backed out of
the competition just before the final round.

3.Nowadays I am busy with
my children.

4.The match was put off because
of snowfall.

d.Rewrite the following
sentences correctly according to the instructions given after each. Make any
necessary changes; don’t change the meaning of the sentence. [8]

it's very difficult as well as crucial to point out our own mistakes..but unfortunately there's no such answer key..sir,please provide us a way so that we can be confident and make sure that our path is correct to answer that questions perfectly.

Of Course, there are possibilities of scores of answers. I always prefer to give simple answers which normal students can be comfortable with. Above average students can go for other answers and probably commit mistakes.